Free Lunch – The Grind

No, this lunch isn’t from a place called “The Grind.” The lunch actually has no name. The sandwiches, the pasta salad, and the cookies all came in nondescript packaging, save for maybe a “Yummy” or “Mmmm” sticker on cookie packages. So once again, this blog post may contain zero useful information for  readers.

Surprise, surprise.

I will still post this though, as it marks the end of many good things (but not this blog haha); my relatively carefree life is ending and quickly progressing to real life–the grind, if you will–and my camera is dying/dead, as evidenced by the photo. So here I am again, saying that my blog may go on probably a semi-hiatus because my time may become short and because I HATE food blogs without pictures, and refuse to become what I loathe. That’s not to say that this blog is gonna shut down; I discovered quite a few pictures from way back before my board exams that deserve to see the light of glowing computer screens all over the Internets.

Anyway, let’s talk about the sandwich I had at this free lunch. Vegetarian portobello. Why would I in my right (omnivorous) mind choose a vegetarian sandwich? My friend said it was delicious, and it was warm, and contained melted cheese, which therefore elevated the sandwich to the top of my most wanted list. It was only later that I would discover that by taking one of a limited number of vegetarian sandwiches, I would be taking away lunch (or at least a sandwich) from someone who really needed a meal without meat. I chuckled in my own sadistic mind at the thought. Yes, I’m terrible. I also wished the sandwich had meat. It was definitely good, and the melted cheese added an unhealthy aura to the sandwich, which was definitely appreciated, but it would’ve tasted 158% better with turkey.

I just had an awesomely terrible thought that would appease my taste buds, but would definitely piss off the vegetarians: maybe I should just bring my own turkey next time to add to these delicious vegetarian sandwiches. Yes, yes…that would be tasty. I should go check the calendar for free lunch days now. Until next time!

This Is A Little Excessive

I found a package on my doorstep the other day. For a moment, I felt a little amnestic: did I order something online? was it the Goljan Pathology book that my friend sent to me a few weeks ago? Nah–this was quite a large box.

OH CRAP

My mind started racing–a slow fat kid pace of racing, but nevertheless racing. Just what the f was in the box? Should I even touch it? Was there something dangerous inside? Rabid animals waiting to pounce on my face the minute I took scissors to the tape? The dimensions of the package, as well as the large blue “Overnight Shipping” sticker brought out my inner paranoia. In spite of it all, though, I still took the box inside, and immediately opened the package.

Inside lay a small package of mushroom ravioli from Buitoni and three ice packs.

I shan’t forget the bubble wrap, the paper, the styrofoam, and the box itself. Now, I’m not the most environmentally active member of society (inactive would be a better descriptor), but shouldn’t a company based in San Francisco (Foodbuzz, the sender–not Buitoni) try to be a little more environmentally conscious? Or at least send me more than one package of pasta so it wouldn’t seem like a complete environmental slap to the face when I throw out all that packaging material. But thanks anyway, Foodbuzz and Buitoni. I’m sure I’ll enjoy my pasta sample.

Free Lunch – Dean’s Lecture

So this post, and my free lunch reviews in general, are rapidly becoming moot points because free lunches at Vanderbilt have effectively been cancelled thanks to the financial shitstorm we call the economy. From now on, free lunches will only be available at important lunches. Like when the dean of the school talks about the state of affairs (read: financial status) of the school. So it’s kinda ironic that they’re serving free lunches at a talk that everyone was expecting to be about how much our finances have tanked in the past couple months.

But…this isn’t a finance blog. This is a food blog! And Dean’s Lectures are awesome opportunities to indulge in tasty lunches. I still have no idea where they get the food catered from, but it’s much better than the run-of-the-mill sandwich shops around Vandy (Panera, Atlanta Bread Co., etc).

Since I’m all into eating healthy now, and monitoring my daily veggie/fiber intake, I chose the salad. It’s not the best salad I’ve seen them serve–this one was a grilled chicken Greek salad–but the meal was more than filling. Also key to the success of a free lunch are sides of fruit, snacks, and soda–all parts of a balanced high school lunch.

I entered the talk dreading what I was going to hear; I expected the free lunch to be the only highlight, but leave it to our badass dean of the school to make everyone feel proud of Vanderbilt and hopeful for the future. I’ve never felt so awesome about going to Vanderbilt as I have now. Lots of numbers were thrown out during the talk, like “we’re number 1″ or “we’re number 2″ and stuff. I don’t remember all of it anymore, but all I have to say now is: Eat that Ivy League!

Free Lunch – Which Wich

Preface: I intended to do a series of reviews of the free lunch we received during lunchtime lectures at the medical school. We’re used to getting a variety of boxed lunches from different sandwich and catering companies at the start of lunchtime meetings for academic and extracurricular groups, in addition to school-sponsored lunch lectures. This was the standard lunchtime lecture. At least, it was the standard before the economic crisis. I found out yesterday that the funding for lunchtime lectures has been dramatically reduced, and now there will be fewer lunch lectures with actual free lunches. Oh, woe is me. I’ll still see how this pans out, though, and try to post as many reviews of free lunches as I can. Oh, and I forgot to state the reason for doing so: some lunches are better than others, and I’d like my preference known so that more of these delicious lunch boxes will be bought over disgusting lunch boxes. Yeah, I know beggars can’t be choosers, but whatever–it never hurts to try.

And so I begin my review series with a high-quality boxed lunch from Which Wich, a sandwich chain that I’d never seen on the west coast. If I could describe it to someone from California, I’d say it was like a better version of Quizno’s: smaller, albeit more stuffed, toasted subs. My chicken sandwich looks like turkey because they seem to use sliced chicken (which I rarely ever see). The meat is chickeny and blandtastic–standard chicken fare. There is a little bit of salt so there is actually some flavor. It comes with prepackaged-standard lettuce and tomatoes, and there’s also mustard and mayo on the side. Even though my description sucks, the sandwich really is good. It might have something to do with the bread, maybe the meat (they do have substantial amounts of meat in their sandwiches), but Which Wich is definitely near the top of my free lunch rankings. Also, as with other sandwiches from other shops, it should be noted that sandwiches that come in boxed lunches are basic sandwiches, and that these shops have way better sandwiches on their regular menus–I’m quite fond of Which Wich’s Cuban sandwich.

Each lunch comes with some chips, pickles, and cookies–a deluxe lunch, for sure. Some places give either a cookie or chips, never both, so I appreciated the added luxury of being able to choose both chips and my oatmeal raisin cookie. And I was also able to snag another bag of pickles. Yes, my life is extremely dull. Whatever. I look forward to (hopefully!) eating more free lunches from Which Wich.